Oracle has released a new tool “Auto-Upgrade” to automate the process of upgrading Oracle Database Management System. This tool is much needed now, as the upgrade process is “lengthy” procedure ,and having such automation capability will shorten the period of upgrading any organization’s Large Oracle database infrastructure.

The tool will let you upgrade from 11g (11.2.0.4) as the “source” minimum version to either 12cR2, 18c , 19c releases as “target” version.

 

In this simulation of Oracle Auto-Upgrade tool, I am simulating the upgrade from 18c (18.6) to 19c (19.3) release.

Pre-requisite checks:

Check Java version under Oracle Home, it should be version 8. Java 8 is available in Oracle database homes for Oracle 12cR2 release and beyond. If your Oracle release is 11g (11.2.0.4) either install java 8 to your Oracle Home or use the “target” release java Oracle Home directory.

To check which java release you have , execute the following command:

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -version

Since my “source” database is 18c , so its expected to have java 8 version available.

Preparations before upgrading the database:

I will install and setup Oracle 19c binaries within the same database server:

Will prepare the profile:

cd

cp .bashrc .bashrc_original

cp .bashrc .bashrc_19c

// edit the 19c profile with new Oracle Home

vi .bashrc_19c

Then overwrite it the main profile:

cp .bashrc_19c .bashrc

source .bashrc

I will unzip the 19c oracle binaries under the new Oracle Home Path:

unzip LINUX.X64_193000_db_home.zip -d /opt/oracle/product/19c/dbhome_2

And then I will perform silent-installation:

./runInstaller -ignorePrereq -waitforcompletion -silent -responseFile /opt/oracle/product/19c/dbhome_2/install/response/db_install.rsp

*** run root.sh after successful installation

/opt/oracle/product/19c/dbhome_2/root.sh

Reset your profile to point back to 18c database binaries, and startup the 18c database.

Auto-Upgrade Setup:

*** go to the location where you downloaded autoupgrade.jar file , the file can be downloaded from Oracle Support (Doc ID 2485457.1) , and create the configuration file

cd /vagrant/autoupgrade

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar autoupgrade.jar -create_sample_file config

*** create your sample configuration file – the following is a TEMPLATE I have used:

cp sample_config.cfg my_config.txt

vi my_config.txt

#

# sample config file

#

#

# Global configurations

#

# This directory will include the following

#   (1) AutoUpgrade’s global directory

#   (2) Any logs, not directly tied to a job

#   (3) Config files

#   (4) progress.json and status.json

global.autoupg_log_dir=/vagrant/autoupgrade/autoupgrade_log

 #

# Database number 1

#

upg1.dbname=ORCLCDB

upg1.start_time=NOW

upg1.source_home=/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhome_1

upg1.target_home=/opt/oracle/product/19c/dbhome_2

upg1.sid=ORCLCDB

upg1.log_dir=/vagrant/autoupgrade/autoupgrade_log

upg1.upgrade_node=localhost

upg1.target_version=19

#upg1.run_utlrp=yes

#upg1.timezone_upg=yes

*** you can execute the following help command to check the options available:

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar autoupgrade.jar -help

The following image illustrate different auto-upgrade modes:

I will start with “analyze” mode:

The analyze mode will basically perform the pre-checks required in for the upgrade to succeed.

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar autoupgrade.jar -config /vagrant/autoupgrade/my_config.txt -mode analyze -noconsole

*** please note that -noconsole option specified in the command, will make AutoUpgrade runs based ONLY on the settings in the configuration file, without requiring console input.

The command executes successfully and the Job number is 100 !

I will go to the location where the logs are generated to grab the produced HTML file:

cd /vagrant/autoupgrade/autoupgrade_log/ORCLCDB/100/prechecks

Inspecting orclcdb_preupgrade.html file….the report will be as shown below:

In the report you will see different severity levels: INFO , WARNING , ERROR , RECOMMEND

Of course “ERROR” indicates that you need Fix the issue before attempting to upgrade the database.

I will explore now “FIXUPS” mode:

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar autoupgrade.jar -config /vagrant/autoupgrade/my_config.txt -mode fixups -noconsole

I will configure flashback, and guaranteed restore point:

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = 3G SCOPE=BOTH;

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST =’/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhome_1/fra’ SCOPE=BOTH;

SQL> create restore point before_19c_upgrade_emad guarantee flashback database;

I will explore now “UPGRADE” mode:

Shutdown your current database, and switch your environment variables to point to the target binaries (in my case 19c).

Don’t forget to copy your init.ora file from old binaries to new binaries…. also anything under $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin from old binaries to new binaries for illustration:

cp -r /opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhome_1/dbs/*  $ORACLE_HOME/dbs

cp -r /opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhome_1/network/admin/*  $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/

sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> startup upgrade

exit;

Then, execute the following command to upgrade:

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar autoupgrade.jar -config /vagrant/autoupgrade/my_config.txt -mode upgrade -noconsole

In my simulation I had a problem with FRA size…so I fixed it and the process completed successfully.

Important Remark: in “upgrade” mode No post-upgrade actions will be performed. The post-upgrade actions are expected to be handled by the DBA. For example timezone upgrade will be implemented manually by the DBA. [check the image of different modes at the beginning of the blog and what stages each mode will cover, “deploy” mode will run all stages]

In case you want to roll-back to previous release (in my case 18c):

shutdown your current database(19c) and listener.

set your environment variables to point to 18c binaries.

sqlplus / as sysdba;

SQL> select current_scn from v$database;

SQL> shutdown immediate;

SQL> startup mount;

SQL> select * from v$restore_point;

SQL> flashback database to restore point before_19c_upgrade_emad;

SQL> alter database open resetlogs;

SQL> select current_scn from v$database;

 

I hope this blog post about Oracle Auto-Upgrade tool will be a good starting point for your to try it out !

Resources/References:

The new AutoUpgrade utility in Oracle 19c

AutoUpgrade Tool (Doc ID 2485457.1)

https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/19/upgrd/using-autoupgrade-oracle-database-upgrades.html#GUID-71883C8C-7A34-4E93-8955-040CB04F2109